FF7: 8/10
FF8: 9/10
FF9: 6/10
FF10: 9/10
FF12: 4/10
For people with similar preferences, will I like FF13? What do you think?
For me, I liked FFXIII a lot. But it is a game in an awkward position; a lot of people that want a more "classics" feel hate this game…. It depends on what you want from FFXIII that will determine whether you like it or not. I wanted to play a game with a really strong focus on the story and FFXIII delivered.
Another way that I would describe this game is that it is the opposite of FFXII. FFXII didn’t have its story played to its full potential but it had lots of gameplay mechanics. I think that I should do a review of this game extensively now that I think about it.
FF8 was always my favourite in the series and I liked FF10 a lot as well so hopefully you’ll take something from this.
The game is very story-based as said above. I’ve seen people call it an "interactive movie" – that’s clearly hyperbole but, especially early on in the game there are a lot of gameplay breaks for the story to unravel. But a positive from this is that I think there is really good story and character development and you actually get a bit of a back story to all the characters and not just the main characters.
Another point is that the early point of this game is incredibly linear, to the point that when you leave certain areas you can’t actually go back to them and you don’t really come across sidequests until you’re a good way into the game. I suppose FF10 is the closest in that sense although you can actually go back to most locations in that game, but you list that as one of your favourites which makes me think this shouldn’t be too much of a problem to you.
I’d be interested to know your reasons why you didn’t really like FF12. I thought FF12 was really fun but one thing I thought it was lacking was some character development – actually more accurately I’d say character interaction. The bit that sticks out to me is the road to Archades, you seem to progress from one area to the next and it gives the feeling that on that whole journey the characters wouldn’t interact in the slightest apart from the (sometimes very laboured) scenes you see. FF13 I thought gets around this and the party go through a lot and this seems to be portrayed a lot better.
The battle system is also a bit more tactical – it’s not always just a case of mashing X and some of the regular enemies can be quite challenging.
But to me it depends how you feel about the above and what kind of game you’re looking for, and I’d be interested in knowing your thoughts but my first instinct is you’ll enjoy it 🙂
It’s been a while since I played FF12 but some of the things that I recall not liking were:
– The extreme wide openness of the game – I felt like there was no drive for me to continue progressing the story.. or to come back to it. It seemed to me like an MMORPG without the multiplayer.
– The characters were flat – Not enough character development/interaction as you mentioned. I think the story could have been better too..
– The battle system – I’m thinking I had issues with there being a much limited variety of spells than in previous FF’s with a lack of ‘wow’ factor. the battles seemed really repetitive to me.. and the Aeons/GFs were a huge disappointment (like being able to summon a giant, mean looking monster that was only made out of paper.)
-And I could be wrong but i’m thinking there was also a really limited selection of item drops from the monsters, ie: a lot of time spent in battle for little reward. It made battles feel pointless to me
In terms of an ability system, the closest comparison would be the sphere grid, both in terms of how you learn your abilities and also that not everyone can be everything right from the start. FF13 battles are much more engaging though. There aren’t random battles but the battles do actually go to a new screen, unlike FF12 where you can sometimes seemingly run through areas without any real thought at all. The end battle music sucks but boss battle music owns so swings and roundabouts there 😉
The game is linear… more or less going down a set path (until end areas of game) for the majority of the game. Towns are not around, so to shop you visit a save point. The music is mediocre at best, and the story is weaker than other installments (using FFXII as a example, that at least did have a story although it was more or less ‘borrowed’ from Star Wars) and the battle system is my biggest gripe with this game.
While it may have it’s advantages being able to change rapidly to a different paradigm, you are limited to controlling only one character and if they are ko’d, it’s game over. Leading to many frustrating moments.
The only thing about FFXIII which is good, are the character designs and backgrounds. They are quite nice to look at, but all in all don’t make up for the game itself. Add in that there’s 13 chapters to this game, but the story only picks up at chapter 11 (I was talked into playing it on my cousin’s borrowed PS3 by the idiot himself. Fourth time I played it and got to chapter 11…), and with only two chapters left, what’s the point?
This picture adequately states what I do to people who ask me about this game:
http://www.gifninja.com/Workspace/273117f9-d49f-49a1-ae22-8e2b5068a1d9/output.gif
XII music bad or forgettable? My friend you certainly didn’t payed attention to the music. I listen to that soundtrack more often than FF7’s.
Anyway this is an XIII thread.
DH, tell me if you agree with this: When I saw the trailers & the footage of XIII, My first and only thought was that the game was just going to be fancy fireworks & fanservice. I haven’t played the game yet. But I still haven’t changed my mind about it, considering the huge amount of critical reception.
When I first heard of FFXIII, I honestly didn’t think much of it. FFX, FFX-2 and FFXII, while not terrible games, I played and finished them (only once and never again) and they’ve been left on my shelf ever since. I can honestly say I didn’t like them as much as I did the earlier installments and had little to no hope of FFXIII changing my opinion. After playing what I have of FFXIII… I prefer the PS2 FF’s over this, the thirteenth installment.
Also, and probably in lesser regard, anything with 13 in the title gives me pause to think if it’ll be worth handing over my money for. I bought 2 copies of FFXIII… first being traded in for another game and the second a brand new sealed copy for 10$AUSD. The price of the latter one, as well as all other copies marked down to that price says a lot (and in other gaming stores I’ve been to since, the price of FFXIII has dropped across the board… cept at EB Games.. hate those bastards >.<).
That’s why I don’t feel any interest on this XIII game, Versus appears to be a little darker & it could enhance the experience a little, but it’s still all that stuff that I mentioned before.
If FF dies, Kingdom Hearts will be it’s natural succesor, because the most active member of S-E (Nomura) it’s placing all his bets on that franchise.
I appreciate XII because it’s nothing like an FF game, that game is a fucking spin-off tribute to older FF & Star Wars on the small picture, on the big picture there’s much more into it, Ivalice games that were developed by it’s creator have this particularity, Tactics has plenty of storyline not only on the cutscenes, but in the Brave Story documentations & in The Bar Rumors. The same with XII, you have to pay attention to the details to fully understand why the game is the way it is.
Sure XII carries this kind of androgynous artistic thing, but it’s oriented in other way, just pay attention to the clothing & you’ll understand me.
Ivalice also has a game that isn’t related to the FF franchise, being this game Vagrant Story, it has one of the most beautiful scripts I’ve ever saw in gaming.
To me FFT only carries the name FF because of merchandising & chocobos, that’s it. The game should’ve been called Zodiac Brave Story don’t you agree?.
Of course S-E has other franchises like Dragon Quest that’s only successful on Japanland.
Dude this company doesn’t give a damn anymore, FFXIV crashed at the PAX presentation. That tells us something. I know that it’s an MMO, but dude, you have to cover your bases so you don’t have that kind of mistake & it’s still a game.
In Conclusion is that I’m feeling cheated by the latest FF releases.
But I’m not keeping my hopes up for Kingdom Hearts; I played the first one briefly and liked it. Briefly enough that I recall nothing I played, but do remember genuine nostalgic enjoyment. I think the original is a great idea, but with all I’ve read about the series, there’s little to nothing to interest me in playing the others. I dunno, I guess the whole concept of it appeals to me very little, only just enough to prompt me to want the original game. From what I played of XIII, it doesn’t feel as though SE has really lost any glimmer, but this is why I need to play further; I only saw up until you take control of Vanille and Hope at a place that didn’t look at all linear to me, from what of the map I saw.
The graphics are the best yet, but the whole the-story-is-not-explained-until-much-much-much-later thing is totally not cool. I don’t even have a basic concept of what the hell’s going on, and no I don’t feel like reading a bunch of logs just to understand the basics of the plot (but I guess that’s what I gotta do). It just feels like a very poorly-designed story that lacks any lasting power. What kinds of things made the stories of IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X so awesome? The fact that they immediately got us comfortable with our surroundings, gave us what we needed to know to get moving, and gave us a sense of familiarity. XIII is like being thrown into another dimension and told to move forward; we’ll never tell you where the hell you are or what to expect. That’s what I don’t like about it, but to me, it doesn’t really detract that much from the experience. Still keeping my hopes high for Versus, however.
From my unbiased perspective, it’s gonna take a whole lot more to convince me SE has lost their touch. I’m psyched to buy Dissidia, and can’t imagine disappointment from anything to come.
And if anybody laughs at me when/if I come crying that I hated the rest of FFXIII, I’m gonna have to force you to listen to Ke$ha.
Anyway, I really only interjected to re-iterate what I’ve been saying for 3 years: Final Fantasy 12 ripped off more elements from Dune than Star Wars. 😀
I’m tempted to start a new game on Friday when I get my HD tv delivered 😀
The 2 games are just not in the same league. My only 2 gripes about XII is that the battle system lacks dynamic inputs from the player once you’ve set your Gambits properly, and the lack of depth in the characters’ stories. Everything else is mile above what you see in XIII (except for graphics, obviously, being a PS2 game). You got exploration, lots of items, lots of side quests, the game’s world actually feels alive and the progression through the game isn’t a straight line. FF XIII is eye candy with some gameplay elements attached to it. The lack of liberty in it is extremely off-putting. But it’s still worth a single play-through.
For the most part of this thread I was only saying good things about this game. But I do agree with this statement. I just haven’t been able to play the game again. Although I have youtubed it. I’ll replay it eventually but rent it and make a judgement then.
I felt like the original Voice in the Wilderness, trying to get people to see that it was a great game, back then. *Everyone* at the time, hated it with an absolute vengeance, and were convinced the series was doomed, that it was the end etc etc.
Years later, and FF12 is finally getting the praise it deserves. And whilst I doubt FF13 will ever be considered many people’s favourite, I do think time will allow people to look more favourably on it as well.
This just isn’t a good time for JRPGs. FF13 had too much baggage to contend with, as people were looking to it, to be a truly great title that resurrected the JRPG and made JRPGs the talk of the town again. They wanted it to be a title that it showed a genuine new and exciting path for other JRPGS to forge etc etc.
It didn’t do that, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great game in its own right. I consider it a very enjoyable game, and one I’m happy to own. But it is what it is, and people looking for more than that, will be disappointed.
x2
As for XIII, I did find it quite repulsive but there were some great ideas in there, I’ll give it that. None of them were particularly well handled though, and the extreme linearity made it virtually unbearable.
XII is one of my favorite games, and I’m surprised to hear people complain so strongly about it. It has very solid gameplay, a terrific soundtrack, great replay value, and a good story to begin with that falls apart a bit at the end. It’s not perfect, but it’s really fun to play.
I think you’ve misunderstood – I wasn’t talking about this board. I’ve not been on this board very long at all. But I was on several boards when FF12 came out, and honestly, it was all you could do to get anyone to say two nice words about it. And I’m very glad to hear that the game had supporters here. My point was that I wish I’d joined this board back then!
Smarty’s told it exactly how it is with FF12 – the story does fall apart halfway through, but it really couldn’t be helped. It was one man’s vision, and he had to step away from the project. No matter how competant the replacement, he will only be able to give an interpretation of the other man’s story (and we don’t know if the latter half of the story was even outlined at that point, more likely it was still being worked on).
And that is exactly why I like FF13 and FF10 better; their stories didn’t fall apart halfway through. I’m really big on storytelling andplot structure (bit of a theatre/english major thing..). FF12’s potential is definitely something to reckon with but in the end that potential was never fully realised in my opinion.
Eh . . . and then let’s get back on topic.
FF12’s story doesn’t so much go down, as get very, very rushed. AFter the incident with the Gran Kilitias (I can’t say more obviously), the game enters noticeably different territory. Vaan, Penelo, Fran and Basch all fade to a greater or lesser degree into the background. Ashe becomes the main character in story terms, and Balthier gets the only significant storyline that’s left.
Vayne and Gabranth also disappear for most of the remainder of the game. After the incident I spoke of, Vayne appears in just one cutscene before the end. Several prominent locations (the Imperial city particularly) are also surpringly low key.
It’s still worth playing, but it does feel very strange that Vaan goes from main character to just another member of the team (especially as you still control him in cities). And though the story doesn’t make best use of the characters and potential events etc in the time it has left, there are still plenty of decent moments (including the end, which is a personal favourite of mine).
And the actual game itself stays the same. So if you’re enjoying the combat and side missions etc, you won’t be disappointed.
You can certainly get satisfied with so very little. I’m not saying that XII has little to present, I’m saying that XII could have been one or the best RPG to hit the shelves in the world, satisfying every hardcore gamer or even a person that it’s not into RPG’s at all.
I just don’t agree that the game is fine as it is.
I agree that the game is a lot better than the credit that it gets. From the gamers not the critics of course.
It’s really funny that you say this… For me, it was after the events in Mt. Bur-Omisace that FFXII went downhill.
And I agree with what topopoz on XII.
Vaan is present in mostly every major scene and plot revelation in the first half of the game, but he falls almost dead away in importance after Mt Bur-Omisace. There is a sizable stretch of time in which he does and says practically nothing. He doesn’t regain any kind of meaningful role until the very end, at which time it seems like a bolt out of the blue, as it has been so long since he did anything.
I think you’ve misunderstood – I wasn’t talking about this board. I’ve not been on this board very long at all. But I was on several boards when FF12 came out, and honestly, it was all you could do to get anyone to say two nice words about it. And I’m very glad to hear that the game had supporters here. My point was that I wish I’d joined this board back then!]
Smarty’s told it exactly how it is with FF12 – the story does fall apart halfway through, but it really couldn’t be helped. It was one man’s vision, and he had to step away from the project. No matter how competant the replacement, he will only be able to give an interpretation of the other man’s story (and we don’t know if the latter half of the story was even outlined at that point, more likely it was still being worked on).
Well you must not have been on Gamefaqs.
Split Infinity and his pals there loved FFXII.
If you disagreed with them they certainly let you know it.
They certainly let me know it.
rotlf..
Matsuno’s departure spoiled what should have been a tour de force.
I regard that as a real tragedy for FF fans and for the series.
Bah, I say. If they can’t appreciate a quality game, then that’s their loss.